While many surgical and investigative procedures involving the use of endoscopes inserted through a natural orifice or a percutaneous access site may take only a short time to conduct, a considerable amount of time is taken in removing the patient from a hospital trolley and placing him or her on an operating surface and then reversing this procedure at the end of the surgery or investigation. Indeed, up to 70% of the time may represent patient handling and only 30% is devoted to the surgical or investigative procedure.